The present invention relates to the field of critical brain stimulation, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for the treatment of neural diseases through the controlled, targeted use of light and/or sound depending on the underlying physiologic pathology of a patient.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with the use of light therapy to stimulate cerebral plasticity across hemispheres, as an example.
Light has been shown to effect the stability of a person""s energy, mood, sleep, concentration and the regulation of a person""s circadian rhythms. Light deprivation, for example, has been shown to cause fatigue, irritability, anxiety, weight gain, social withdrawal and a lack of alertness.
The human brain produces detectable signals that vary in strength and frequency over time. These signals are detectable as electromagnetic waves, and vary from one part of the brain to another and may, in fact, vary over time. Electromagnetic waves with different frequencies are associated with different moods and mental abilities.
It is generally believed that a person afflicted with a sleeping disorder has problems generating a delta rhythm. In contrast, people who have difficulties learning or display behavioral problems that affect learning, have problems associated with abnormalities of the alpha rhythm. These rhythms have been found to be regulated by brain biochemistry.
The use of light therapy, unlike drug therapy, has been used to treat patients that have been afflicted with a seasonal affective disorder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,562,719 to Lopez-Claros describes one such method for treating seasonal affective disorders that relies on preferential light stimulation in a hemifield pattern only affecting one quadrant or 50% of the non-dominant cerebral hemisphere. Seasonal affective disorder is a condition that affects from 5-20% of the population in areas with decreased year time light levels, such as the Northern Hemisphere. A common treatment for seasonal affective disorders is the use of lamps or light boxes that provide between 2,500 to 10,000 lux illumination in a hemifield pattern only affecting the inferior quadrant or 50% of the non-dominant cerebral hemisphere. The use of level illumination is an attempt to stimulate summer-like light levels. The Lopez-Claros patent is directed to the stimulation of one cerebral hemisphere to a greater degree than the other, thereby treating seasonal affective disorder by preferential light treatment. The Lopez-Claros invention, however, stimulates only one quadrant of the optical axis or 50% in both eyes thereby precluding its use in the stimulation of a hemisphere wholely.
As apparatus and method for treating an individual by electroencephalographic disentrainment feedback is the focus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,939 issued to Ochs. Electroencephalographic disentrainment feedback involves measuring a patient""s brain waves, and based on those brain waves, generating impulses that disrupt brain waves by xe2x80x9cdisentrainingxe2x80x9d brain waves that are xe2x80x9centrainedxe2x80x9d or entrenched in the brain. By xe2x80x9cdisentrainingxe2x80x9d the entrenched brain waves, a patient""s sub-optimal posttraumatic neural functioning is restored. The apparatus, however, requires the supervision of a doctor, as people with hypersensitivity may require that treatment be immediately stopped. The increased supervision makes the cost of use very great and eliminates its portability.
A slight variation from the Ochs patent, is U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,858 issued to Carter and Russell, that involves using two frequencies, with a slight frequency differential between the two frequencies, to change a patient""s brain waves. The patient""s brain waves are also measured, and based on these measurements, disruptive brain impulses are generated that disrupt the patient""s brain waves in a constant feedback mechanism.
The invention disclosed herein is an apparatus for selectively stimulating target regions of the cerebral hemisphere using a controlled light and sound generating apparatus. The present invention helps address the present need for an apparatus and method that enhances the innate abilities of individuals with limbic disorders.
Also needed is an apparatus and method that is simple to use, inexpensive and portable, thereby providing greater distribution to those most in need of treatment. One example of individuals who may benefit the most from an inexpensive, simple to use device that increases learning abilities are patients and individuals in poor, urban, inner cities and in rural areas. More specifically, what is needed is a simple, inexpensive device that may be used by, e.g., elementary and secondary school children whose parent, or guardian, can not afford expensive drug treatments requiring medical supervision. Others that may benefit from such an apparatus and method are athletes, business people, and academicians.
In one embodiment the apparatus of the present invention is a device that covers the patient""s eyes, such as a pair of sunglasses. Other devices may use similar technology in order to enhance ones ability to mentally focus. These devices include sports helmets that are used to protect players"" craniums and may be integrated into the protective head gear, e.g., football, hockey, baseball, racing car, motorcycle and bicycle helmets.
Another application of the technology is with computer monitors and televisions. This embodiment encompasses one or more oscillating lights set-up in a proscribed manner on a person""s computer monitor. The light pattern of the present invention may be displayed in a subliminal alternating checkerboard pattern that would be set to the individual user. In one embodiment, the light will stimulate the non-dominant cerebral hemisphere greater than the dominant cerebral hemisphere. In this version, the non-dominant cerebral hemisphere is stimulated to a greater degree than the dominant cerebral hemisphere. It is the coordinated stimulation of the non-dominant hemisphere that helps create a balance of integration of excitatory post synaptic potentials (EPSP).
The apparatus for selectively stimulating the non-dominant cerebral includes a surface placed in close proximity to a patient""s eyes and one or more lights disposed on the surface. The one or more lights stimulate the eye connected to the non-dominant cerebral hemisphere to a greater extent than the eye connected to the dominant cerebral hemisphere at a rate of approximately, e.g., 60/40. By overstimulating the non-dominant hemisphere there is an increase in the patient""s ability to maintain a heighten mental status, and in turn sets up for a globality of increased muscular activity.
Alternatively, the surface may be sleeping goggles. In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the glasses reflect light from a source next to the eye (light is reflected from the glass surface) into the patient""s eyes.
The types of light that are used with the apparatus and method of the present invention may include white light, plane polarized light, or light that varies in color. The timing and intensity of the light may be controlled by a microcontroller or by an operator.